@coyote @unk-p @ana @Paul-W @journeywithme2 Thanks for posting in this little thread. I have learned so much from each of you. Paul-W, your Eagle's line got me spending a half hour catching up with Don Henley's career and hearing him twice singing The Heart of the Matter which is one of my all time favorite songs.
Kisha James is the young Wampanoag woman in my town who gave that talk and her grandfather was the person who founded TG as the Day of Mourning. I still haven't found a link to her talk but I have included the link to an article she wrote. She had interrupted her studies at Wellesley College to speak to our town leaders and help us get Columbus Day changed to Indigenous People's Day last year.
Here are some books recommended by the Wampanoag members of our community:
The author of the incredible presentation I heard on zoom was Kisha James who has a link here to an NPR interview she did. Her grandfather's landmark speech is the top link.
On the history of Thanksgiving and National Day of Mourning:
Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
This Land is Their Land by David Silverman
The writings of William B. Newell
The works of Richard Drinnon
@ana Thanks for pointing out the book The Mayflower by Philbrick which I have not read. I read some reviews and sent it to the Indigenous People's Day group I joined last year for their thoughts. So far I haven't found someone who has read it. But one person who is not Wampanoag or indigenous, but is a person of color, got back to me with this:
@ana Thanks for pointing out the book The Mayflower by Philbrick which I have not read. I read some reviews and sent it to the Indigenous People's Day group I joined last year for their thoughts. So far I haven't found someone who has read it. But one person who is not Wampanoag or indigenous, but is a person of color, got back to me with this:
"I've been thinking about this for a bit and also am struggling with a response, in particular a response that doesn't start a series of counter narratives. I could imagine the pilgrims willing to venture beyond their homelands in search of a "decent and peaceful life" but that does not absolve them of colonizing Indigenous land. I would also not equate pilgrims to refugees who migrate to new land in search of a peaceful life, as refugees generally assimilate to the place they migrate to, and certainly don't colonize it. The line of reasoning here kind of reminds me of the argument that Christoper Columbus wasn't such a bad guy, and was only a man of his time. Whereas in this case, the line of reasoning seems to hinge on the premise that the pilgrims didn't mean any harm nor did they intend to take land and resources from Indigenous people, but it so happens to be the case that they did."
I don't want to start a series of counter-narratives either... esp. with those who haven't read Philbrick's account.
Just one thought, though: I think if one is going to judge another person's actions, the person's intentions should be taken into account. When it comes to intent, I don't see much in common with Columbus (intent: obtain wealth, glory, honor, and bonus! slaves ? ) and the original 1620 Mayflower group (intent: live mundane lives without being persecuted for their (admittedly cultish) religious beliefs).
Well, one more generalized thought from a Libran mind: Indeed, sometimes relatively innocent intentions do end up having nasty results ("the road to hell is paved with good intentions"). Ignorance can be dangerous and can lead to evil outcomes, but ignorance itself is not inherently evil. Maya Angelou's statement " ...when you know better, (you) do better" applies to most people, or at least I like to believe so.
@ana Good point. Maybe I shouldn't have passed along his comments and just waited to read it myself. For that I apologize. I have ordered the book from my library, and look forward to reading it. I did notice that one of the main criticisms when I read up on it, when it came out, was from people who said it was too pro-Native American. So that must mean something regarding your thought that it was the most balanced account you had read.